cktimes.ca Archives for The Pastoral Lens
The Pastoral Lens
American Idol
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Forget thinking that this article is a review on the cult following in both the United States and Canada of rock-star wanna be's aiming at fame. Trust me, I'm much more of a Simon Cowell than a Paula Abdul when it comes to that sort of thing. No, I'm talking about the REAL American Idol, here, the one I saw in full colour on my television screen this past Friday on the evening news. I'm talking about materialism.Let me give you some background on this subject. We are told by all the statistics experts that the Friday after Thanksgiving in the United States is the busiest shopping day of the year. Many stores open at the break of dawn, or even earlier, to cater to the sleep-deprived bargain hunters jammed in front of the doors waiting to be first. After a fitful night of heartburn, they are ready for the next holiday indulgence. I must admit, although I had some idea of what to expect, the scene before my eyes was still hard to believe. A stampede of people rushed through the doors at one store, trampling some unfortunate ones in the process. One poor lady fell headlong, losing her wig in the process. Not to be deterred, however, she quickly recovered, slapped the hair piece back on, and took up the chase for the sales. In another store, a man trying to cut in line for lap top computers had to be wrestled to the ground by store security. As each episode unfolded before my eyes, I thought it was raw meat day at the shark exhibit. There was no regard for others. It was all about ME! If this is the annual prelude to Christmas, I say, "Bah, humbug!"
Something is definitely wrong with this picture, folks. We are not in touch with reality if we think such a scenario is anywhere in the realm of normal. Our worship of "stuff" here in the west cuts right against the grain of sound logic everywhere else. For the Christian, the things of earth, as one hymn writer put it, should "grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace." Our fascination and adoration must be on the growing glory of the living Lord, not the fading beauty of material things. In 1 John 2:15 it says this: "Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." Hmm, sounds to me like it's an either/or, not a "have your cake and eat it, too" type of thing. There are no Walmarts in heaven, folks!
As we approach the Christmas season this year, it might be a good thing for us to take some inventory of our hearts. What's in there, anyway? Does the pursuit of pleasure and things choke out time with the Lord and family? The sad fact is, we may not be able to tell if this is the case. We may have to ask those we love for their honest answer, and then prepare to get a right hook to the jaw if we're tilting too much toward hedonism. Let's keep the "reason for the season" (answer: Jesus) in focus this year. Such a focus will help us to keep from being trampled and our hair from getting out of place, eh?
